Bruce Lee RX for the ZX Spectrum

Greetings and thankyou for downloading this little project. Bruce Lee RX is my attempt to bring 'Spectrum style' graphics to the otherwise excellent Bruce Lee conversion for the ZX Spectrum. The game was originally written for the Atari 8-bit / Commodore 64, and I always felt that the graphics on the Spectrum version didn't play to the strengths of the machine, or indeed to the legacy of the great man himself. There was always a great game there, but it just didn't quite look the part on the Spectrum, at least in my view. If you're curious, RX in the title stands for 'redux'. It's not a remake, it's just a makeover.

Initially I simply wanted to replace the Bruce Lee sprite as a small tech exercise and a bit of pixel art fun. However, encouraged by the community, it wasn't long before I changed the other sprites, and every time I added something new, the older graphics began to look out of place. I realised that if I was going to do it, I had to do it properly. A lot of time and effort went in to keeping the layout and the engine the same, but to give the game a completely fresh new facelift I changed most of the level tiles, added a lot more colour, added a simple remix of the original tune (to sound more like other Ocean releases of the period), a new logo which is based on the one currently used by the Lee family, and a new font. In addition I also made the sprite of Yamo to be green. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea due to a certain amount of colour clash, but again, the community overwhelmingly wanted it, so it's in there. Incidentally, if you don't like the green Yamo, you can poke him back using POKE 52163,7.

Also included in the ZIP is a POK file which works like DLC! Open this file whilst playing the game on an emulator that supports POK files (Fuse, Spectaculator and others), and you can give Bruce a tiny version of the iconic jumpsuit from Game of Death. More POK files that change the characters may follow. As well as this, there are a number of Bruce Lee 'easter eggs' scattered around the game rooms that reference his work. Try to spot them!

I have made the game available as a full download, based on the fact that it is freely available online and is therefore assumed to be abandonware. If this is not the case I will withdraw it and re-release it as patch in which no original code is used.

The game is available for free, but anyone is welcome to make a small donation to encourage me to continue my work and perhaps to take my other half out for a meal for being so tolerant of my late night coding exploits! However, if you are an active part of the ZX scene, for example if you write games or Spectrum reviews or make Youtube videos, you may consider this, along with the rest of my work, as a gift from me to thank you for your efforts. If you just like playing the games then I hope you will consider throwing a coin into my hat. If you prefer you can also donate by paypal, my email address is allanjturvey@gmail.com. Thanks!

I do ask that it not be distributed elsewhere, simply because I want people to be aware of the work I do, and hopefully download my other projects.

I hope you enjoy the game as much as I have enjoyed making it. I am now planning to do a 'Dragon' edition which will make the game harder, and then perhaps, if time allows, to create a new game with the same engine.


I'd like to thank the whole community for their help, but particular special thanks go to:

Ron J Fortier for the original game
Andy Johns for some additional graphical tweaks here and there
David Saphier for chipping in and helping with the TAP loader
Jim Bagley for his general encouragement
Daniel A. Nagy for helping with the room compression routine
André Luna Leão, Andy Wareing and others for playtesting and giving feedback
PGYuri who made Bruce Lee+ for a few tips on how the levels are managed in game
DMX for making Return of Fury on the C64
Rod Bell, Baz Harding and everyone else who helps keep the community alive with their work.

...and of course to the legend himself, who inspired me as a boy and continues to do so...Bruce Lee forever!